Apple has been awarded a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a new breed of curved touch surfaces.

Patent No. 8,603,574 —or "Curved touch sensor", describes a manufacturing technique for curved touch surfaces aimed at minimizing problems caused by substrate warping or deformation. It suggests that it could be used in displays, touch pads, touch mice and more.
To avoid deformation due to the annealing process, the patent proposes a technique that deposits a conductive thin film over a flexible substrate while it is in a flat state. Once the electrodes are in place, the substrate package is joined to a curved "forming substrate" and subsequently heated. The process results in a non-deformed curved touch sensor stackup with a thin film that benefits from the high-temperature anneal.
The new technique would enable curved glass to bend, and curved touchscreens could be thinner because of this. Nothing is staying flat in the future. How will Apple use this? [Apple Insider via USPTO]